5 ms·

Shout out to religion here. Everyone in my faith is assigned one or two people to "minister" to and everyone also has someone ministering to them. Instant frien

Shout out to religion here. Everyone in my faith is assigned one or two people to "minister" to and everyone also has someone ministering to them. Instant friends. And no need for the elderly to be completely alone and have to turn to craigslist. I can't imagine this need going unfilled in the structure of my local church community. Obviously with the decline of religion, this situation will only become more common. People need a built in community structure, and nothing has stepped up to replace church yet. I don't think r/atheism is going to fill that void anytime soon.

anonu 7y ago
Curious to know which religion you follow? How does assignment work? I suppose they need to be part of the same congregation?
- ngngngng 7y ago
  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or as we're often known, Mormons. There's a mens group and a womens group, and the leaders of each of these groups make the assignments and then hear reports on how everyone's doing. All of this happens within a single congregation, or "ward" as we call them. And wards are dictated by location. So there's no concept of "church shopping" within this religion, which helps with organizational efforts like this.
  - heyitsguay 7y ago
    It's awesome that you have found community through your religion, but you (and everybody else reading this comment who doesn't already know) should be aware that the Mormon religion was founded as a cult of personality by the con-man Joseph Smith. I am not saying this to pass judgement on you or any practitioners, but anybody interested in conversion should be aware of what they are getting into. Ample resources exist to support this claim, due to Joseph Smith living only a couple hundred years ago and leaving many contemporary sources outside the church who reported on his early life and motivations in the foundational years of the church.
    - ngngngng 7y ago
      There's not ample evidence to support that he was a con-man. > Claims that Joseph was a "juggler," or "conjurer" were a common 19th century method of dismissing his prophetic claims via ad hominem. Modern-day claims about him being found to be a "con man" are simply the same attack with updated language, usually bolstered by a misunderstanding or misrepresentation of Joseph's 1826 court hearing. https://www.fairmormon.org/answers/Question:_Was_Joseph_Smith_found_guilty_of_being_a_%22con_man%22_in_1826%3F https://www.fairmormon.org/answers/Question:_Was_Joseph_Smit...
      - vermilingua 7y ago
        I'm not taking a stance on any side of this debate, but you have to admit that using a site called FairMormon as a primary source does not inspire confidence.
        bigwavedave 7y ago
        Why not? After reading your post (I'm not taking a stance either, to be clear), I got curious and queried a few registrars for domains including the terms "mormon", "lds", "latterdaysaints", and a couple others and was shocked [/sarcasm] to find very few sane or meaningful domains available. While I agree in principle that a resource's name or title can reveal something about its creator(s) and potentially its content, the name itself means far less than the quality of the source(s) of the information it provides.
    - nrclark 7y ago
      I don't consider myself in a position to judge the validity of anybody's religion. But I'd ask you this - if a religion's values are good, its practitioners are happy and its role in the community is positive, does it really matter whether the religion is true in an absolute sense? Is the concept of absolute truth even relevant or applicable? We've all met pious assholes. I've also met truly faithful people that renew my hope for humanity. The practice of faith is one of accepting duality, of not knowing the truth and being comfortable with that. Or of accepting that one person's unprovable truth is different than another's, and being OK with it. Why bother debating the unknowable?
  - kylehotchkiss 7y ago
    Hey I learned something new today! I grew up more Protestant which leads to a lot of church shopping and people shifting around when they become uncomfortable with their current location. This also leads churches to try to “market” themselves with clumsy buzzwords and multi-million dollar stage/lighting presentations. I appreciate Mormonism’s simple solution to this and admire how it works to better keep your community together. Thanks for sharing!
newshorts 7y ago
If I could find a structured community of dedicated people who just want to have community and connection I would join. But I don’t want to have to commit to any of the crazy stuff religions tend to want you to believe.
- ngngngng 7y ago
  No doubt, but without the "crazy stuff" there isn't enough of a reason for people to commit to building communities like this. That crazy stuff makes introverted, socially anxious me shoot off a text to some random neighbor 20 years older than myself every couple weeks to make sure he's doing alright and see if he needs anything, and invite my other neighbor over to dinner, whom I probably never would have said hello to otherwise.
  - tomlockwood 7y ago
    You know, if anything coffee makes me more likely to shoot random texts to people, though.
  - lawn 7y ago
    Why does the "crazy stuff" have to be religion? Couldn't it work just as well surrounding boardgames, sports or knitting? I think the center issue is having something in common, which binds people together.
    - crowbahr 7y ago
      Generally the ministering groups are doing it because they feel it's required of them by God. Once they get over that initial little hump it becomes friendly instead of just mandatory, but it takes that push. How often do you make friends with complete strangers with whom you have nothing in common (that you know)?
  - sharkmerry 7y ago
    Just to clarify as Im not sure i follow. Would you not be doing this if you weren't religious?
Scarblac 7y ago
I wish there was a practical way to keep these parts of religion without having to believe in the supernatural or the truth of one specific ancient book.
- gxon 7y ago
  I think you can, but I wonder if it's possible to separate the positive role of religion with what makes it toxic, even in secular form. In particular, I think one of most toxic aspects is exclusion. If a person doesn't conform to a certain set of ideas or lifestyles, then you're not welcome to participate in the community. In extreme cases, exclusion could even mean execution. Our history (and present) are full of examples of this, which is why secularism and separation of church and state are such important ideas. But at the same time, this known conformity to a shared set of ideas is what creates such a strong community. Even if a person is a stranger, you generally know how to interact with them if you have a shared religion. This eases social interaction and helps create a foundation of trust in larger groups where you can't intimately know every person. In fact, the tighter you constrict what people are allowed to believe or how they're allowed to live, the less unknowns and the greater the benefit. Of course, this creates some horrifying situations for people can't or won't conform to the rules of the community around them. An obvious example is homosexuals born into religions that don't see that as an acceptable lifestyle. At best, they spend their lives in a state of constant shame and self-disgust, maybe suffering under clumsy attempts to "pray the gay away". This is the first time I've tried to put words to this idea, so I may not be expressing it well or hitting the truth quite right.
  - kharak 7y ago
    I like your thoughts on this. Have to disagree about exclusion being the problem. If community is a product, exclusion is it means of production. The problem with religion isn't exclusion, it's a partially outdated set of rules by which the filter is applied. (And a missing update functionality for the source code, respectively an inherit problem with the rate of change, as too much change in too short of a time defeats the purpose of rules, exclusivity and therefore community).
- 7y ago
celeritascelery 7y ago
This made my day. So nice to be reminded that there people trying to care for each other and make a positive difference in the lives of those around them.
- spodek 7y ago
  > So nice to be reminded that there people trying to care for each other and make a positive difference in the lives of those around them Is there any other kind of person?
  - bigwavedave 7y ago
    Ah, I see you have yet to meet my ex.

anonu 7y ago

Curious to know which religion you follow? How does assignment work? I suppose they need to be part of the same congregation?

ngngngng 7y ago
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or as we're often known, Mormons. There's a mens group and a womens group, and the leaders of each of these groups make the assignments and then hear reports on how everyone's doing. All of this happens within a single congregation, or "ward" as we call them. And wards are dictated by location. So there's no concept of "church shopping" within this religion, which helps with organizational efforts like this.
- heyitsguay 7y ago
  It's awesome that you have found community through your religion, but you (and everybody else reading this comment who doesn't already know) should be aware that the Mormon religion was founded as a cult of personality by the con-man Joseph Smith. I am not saying this to pass judgement on you or any practitioners, but anybody interested in conversion should be aware of what they are getting into. Ample resources exist to support this claim, due to Joseph Smith living only a couple hundred years ago and leaving many contemporary sources outside the church who reported on his early life and motivations in the foundational years of the church.
  - ngngngng 7y ago
    There's not ample evidence to support that he was a con-man. > Claims that Joseph was a "juggler," or "conjurer" were a common 19th century method of dismissing his prophetic claims via ad hominem. Modern-day claims about him being found to be a "con man" are simply the same attack with updated language, usually bolstered by a misunderstanding or misrepresentation of Joseph's 1826 court hearing. https://www.fairmormon.org/answers/Question:_Was_Joseph_Smith_found_guilty_of_being_a_%22con_man%22_in_1826%3F https://www.fairmormon.org/answers/Question:_Was_Joseph_Smit...
    - vermilingua 7y ago
      I'm not taking a stance on any side of this debate, but you have to admit that using a site called FairMormon as a primary source does not inspire confidence.
      - bigwavedave 7y ago
        Why not? After reading your post (I'm not taking a stance either, to be clear), I got curious and queried a few registrars for domains including the terms "mormon", "lds", "latterdaysaints", and a couple others and was shocked [/sarcasm] to find very few sane or meaningful domains available. While I agree in principle that a resource's name or title can reveal something about its creator(s) and potentially its content, the name itself means far less than the quality of the source(s) of the information it provides.
  - nrclark 7y ago
    I don't consider myself in a position to judge the validity of anybody's religion. But I'd ask you this - if a religion's values are good, its practitioners are happy and its role in the community is positive, does it really matter whether the religion is true in an absolute sense? Is the concept of absolute truth even relevant or applicable? We've all met pious assholes. I've also met truly faithful people that renew my hope for humanity. The practice of faith is one of accepting duality, of not knowing the truth and being comfortable with that. Or of accepting that one person's unprovable truth is different than another's, and being OK with it. Why bother debating the unknowable?
- kylehotchkiss 7y ago
  Hey I learned something new today! I grew up more Protestant which leads to a lot of church shopping and people shifting around when they become uncomfortable with their current location. This also leads churches to try to “market” themselves with clumsy buzzwords and multi-million dollar stage/lighting presentations. I appreciate Mormonism’s simple solution to this and admire how it works to better keep your community together. Thanks for sharing!

newshorts 7y ago

If I could find a structured community of dedicated people who just want to have community and connection I would join. But I don’t want to have to commit to any of the crazy stuff religions tend to want you to believe.

ngngngng 7y ago
No doubt, but without the "crazy stuff" there isn't enough of a reason for people to commit to building communities like this. That crazy stuff makes introverted, socially anxious me shoot off a text to some random neighbor 20 years older than myself every couple weeks to make sure he's doing alright and see if he needs anything, and invite my other neighbor over to dinner, whom I probably never would have said hello to otherwise.
- tomlockwood 7y ago
  You know, if anything coffee makes me more likely to shoot random texts to people, though.
- lawn 7y ago
  Why does the "crazy stuff" have to be religion? Couldn't it work just as well surrounding boardgames, sports or knitting? I think the center issue is having something in common, which binds people together.
  - crowbahr 7y ago
    Generally the ministering groups are doing it because they feel it's required of them by God. Once they get over that initial little hump it becomes friendly instead of just mandatory, but it takes that push. How often do you make friends with complete strangers with whom you have nothing in common (that you know)?
- sharkmerry 7y ago
  Just to clarify as Im not sure i follow. Would you not be doing this if you weren't religious?

Scarblac 7y ago

I wish there was a practical way to keep these parts of religion without having to believe in the supernatural or the truth of one specific ancient book.

gxon 7y ago
I think you can, but I wonder if it's possible to separate the positive role of religion with what makes it toxic, even in secular form. In particular, I think one of most toxic aspects is exclusion. If a person doesn't conform to a certain set of ideas or lifestyles, then you're not welcome to participate in the community. In extreme cases, exclusion could even mean execution. Our history (and present) are full of examples of this, which is why secularism and separation of church and state are such important ideas. But at the same time, this known conformity to a shared set of ideas is what creates such a strong community. Even if a person is a stranger, you generally know how to interact with them if you have a shared religion. This eases social interaction and helps create a foundation of trust in larger groups where you can't intimately know every person. In fact, the tighter you constrict what people are allowed to believe or how they're allowed to live, the less unknowns and the greater the benefit. Of course, this creates some horrifying situations for people can't or won't conform to the rules of the community around them. An obvious example is homosexuals born into religions that don't see that as an acceptable lifestyle. At best, they spend their lives in a state of constant shame and self-disgust, maybe suffering under clumsy attempts to "pray the gay away". This is the first time I've tried to put words to this idea, so I may not be expressing it well or hitting the truth quite right.
- kharak 7y ago
  I like your thoughts on this. Have to disagree about exclusion being the problem. If community is a product, exclusion is it means of production. The problem with religion isn't exclusion, it's a partially outdated set of rules by which the filter is applied. (And a missing update functionality for the source code, respectively an inherit problem with the rate of change, as too much change in too short of a time defeats the purpose of rules, exclusivity and therefore community).
7y ago

celeritascelery 7y ago

This made my day. So nice to be reminded that there people trying to care for each other and make a positive difference in the lives of those around them.

spodek 7y ago
> So nice to be reminded that there people trying to care for each other and make a positive difference in the lives of those around them Is there any other kind of person?
- bigwavedave 7y ago
  Ah, I see you have yet to meet my ex.